Japan Sees Oil Rising To $20

March 17, 1986

The Japanese Foreign Ministry is predicting that world crude oil prices will rise and then remain around $20 a barrel in the not-too-distant future. The ministry made the prediction over the weekend, saying it was based on information gathered through Japanese diplomatic institutions in February after prices began to fall sharply in January. World crude prices slid from more than $30 a barrel in November 1985 to around $12 earlier this month. They have risen slightly since then.